Think 2016: San Diego as convention city

Yes
54% (306)

No
46% (264)

570 total votes.

The Republican and Democratic conventions have ended and the party faithful have fled the oppressive climes of Tampa and Charlotte and returned home to San Diego, energized for the campaign stretch drive on behalf of their newly nominated candidates for president and vice president. And already the chant has begun: “GOP 2016 in San Diego ... GOP 2016 in San Diego.”

We know that Republican Carl DeMaio, whom we fully expect to be elected mayor of San Diego in November, has heard the chant. We are also confident he gets the message and will take the lead in making it reality.

There is no better city in America for a political party’s presidential nominating convention. We’ve done it before, in 1996, with remarkable success in terms of the convention itself. We could have had a very good shot at this year’s GOP convention with a little more mayoral leadership. And we are well positioned to host the Republicans in 2016.

Cynics will at this point begin shouting about how the tragically shortsighted, under-the-table decision of City Hall’s managerial and political leadership to help finance the 1996 confab by underfunding its employee pension fund led, in turn, to the financial disaster from which the city is only now escaping. And that is certainly true.

But times have changed. The lessons have been learned, and only a fool would propose such a scheme today – and DeMaio is no fool.

Look at the big picture. The numbers for Tampa are not yet in, but the host committee for the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul reported that the convention brought 45,000 delegates, party officials, media and other guests to the metro area and generated more than $153 million in direct economic impact for that region and more than $15 million in indirect impact.

Beyond the economic benefit, a political party convention is right up there with a Super Bowl in terms of putting the host city in the national and international spotlight. Even in New York City, where mega-events are common, political conventions are a highly sought-after plum. The New York Times described the 1992 Democratic convention in that city as a “watershed event” in the Big Apple’s tourism boom.

San Diego has come a long way in the years since hosting the Republicans in 1996. The downtown convention center has been expanded, as has Lindbergh Field. Petco Park is close by the convention center and more hotels dot the waterfront and downtown. Hotels, restaurants and other tourist spots from Chula Vista to North County would all get some of the action.

And we like San Diego’s chances of winning a convention bid, most particularly if Mitt Romney, who owns a home in La Jolla, is in the White House looking for a friendly convention city to launch his 2016 re-election campaign.

Heck, San Diego should even invite the Democrats to come here in 2016, too. Double the money, double the exposure, double the fun.